Xenia: Land of the Gods
by SuperPaperBag
Summary: Months after the Ascendant God has been destroyed and Astaroth ran off with the Orb of Ascendancy, the four demons of Grand Chase are sent to check up on the Xenian Gods. Copious amounts of character development. Profanity warning.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue and Xenia Border

The four demons of the Grand Chase sat around the meeting room table, listening as the Knight Master began to inform them of the mission they would all be sent on the next day. Dio had tilted his chair back and was staring up at the ceiling blankly, Rufus was absentmindedly polishing his dual pistols, Ley had rested her head in her hands and was staring off into space, and Zero was sitting straight in his chair and giving the Knight Master his undivided attention.

"So why are you sending **us** again?" the stygian asked abruptly, not seeming to care in the slightest that he was rudely interrupting.

Knight Master elicited an exasperated sigh and explained, "Xenia is composed of several harsh environments. Demons are more tolerant to these extreme climates. Also, your increased stamina will allow you to pass through the continent at a far quicker pace than a team of humans. Finally, the Ascendant God's influence still looms over that region, and as demons you have less chance of succumbing to it."

"Fine, but after Void and Astaroth and all that, the Xenian Gods have never liked demons very much. If you send us to go check up on them they'll probably just think we're trying to take them over ourselves, you know," Dio replied. "And it's not like they even know we're part of the Grand Chase. I was the first demon to join this little rebellion, and that wasn't until you reached Archimedia."

"All four of you wear the Grand Chase necklaces that identify you as part of the Grand Chase. That should be enough to convince the gods."

Ley raised her head and crossed her arms over her chest in irritation. "Are we quite done here? If we have to leave first thing in the morning, I need to go to bed now and get my beauty sleep."

"Hah!" the stygian laughed. "No amount of sleep could fix that atrocity you call a face."

Knight Master slammed her hands on the table in frustration. "Be silent! At this rate it will be sunrise before we finish this briefing!"

"We don't have to sleep," Dio reminded her. "And there's really nothing left to say. All we have to do is go to Xenia, check up on all of the gods, don't go near the Fortress of Ascension, and come back here."

The room was quiet for a moment as the Knight Master rubbed her temples and sighed. "All of you have visited Xenia at some point, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"No."

Everyone turned to stare at Rufus. The bounty hunter simply shrugged in response and stated, "I am still new to Aernas. I have only heard about this region; I've never actually been there."

"Well, one out of four isn't that bad. Alright, all of you meet me back here at six in the morning and I'll send you off. Meeting adjourned."

The demons quickly left the room, not wishing to remain in the presence of the annoyed knight master. Ley immediately headed for her room, while Rufus sort of lingered in the hallway. Dio had teleported somewhere the second he had entered the hallway. Zero decided to return to his room as well.

The wanderer had removed a book from his bookshelf and read for hours, noticing as the room around him eventually became dark and afterwards slowly began to brighten. When it was around five-thirty the demon shut his book and prepared for the mission he was about to embark on. He cleaned Grandark thoroughly, stored a few healing supplies in the hidden pockets of his pants, and checked several times that he was wearing the Grand Chase necklace under his shirt.

"Stop checking; it's not like you need it," the sword stated.

"Better to be safe than sorry, Gran."

The blade scoffed as it was placed on its wielder's back. "Trust me, they'll recognize you. It's hard to forget someone with your ridiculous appearance."

Zero shrugged off the insult and walked to the meeting room. Ley, Rufus, and Knight Master were already present. The stygian was absent, although both of his butlers were standing awkwardly in the corner of the room.

"Alright, we've waited long enough. Where's Dio?" Knight Master addressed the two demon butlers.

"…We were unable to rouse Young Master," Alfred muttered, keeping his head down. "He does not appear to be hurt, but he refuses to move."

Knight Master looked as though she wished to flip the table they were all sitting around. "If we want to stay on schedule, we can't wait for Dio to wake up! I don't care what you do, just get him out front in five minutes!" She then stormed from the room.

"Good luck with that, you two. Besides being the chief of the Burning Canyon clan, Dio is also the king of laziness," the summoner commented before leaving the room as well, Jeeves following right behind her.

Rufus left moments after without a word. Zero was about to follow the bounty hunter when Sebastian suddenly ran to him and tugged on the wanderer's pant leg. "…Zero, please help us," the small demon requested, his eyes wide and beseeching.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked calmly.

"In the state Young Master is in, I severely doubt we will be able to wake him," Alfred stated. "Both of us are too small to carry him, but you, on the other hand…"

"Alright. I would not want us to be delayed any further," the wanderer agreed. Zero had been taught from the importance of punctuality from a young age, and he refused to allow the stygian to prevent the demons from keeping the arranged schedule.

Sebastian and Alfred accompanied the silver-haired demon to Dio's room. The stygian was sprawled over the bed, lying on his back and snoring softly. "Please be careful with him," Sebastian mumbled. "If he gets bruised I'll probably get beat up again…"

Zero gently pulled the stygian to a sitting position, and was surprised to see that the magenta-haired demon did not react at all. He was beginning to doubt that Dio was actually uninjured. The wanderer slowly hefted the other demon over his shoulder and stood.

"He's going to be so upset when he finds out," the shorter butler mumbled.

Alfred shot the other butler a look and glanced at the wanderer. "Will you be able to carry him for a while?"

"…Yes, I can manage. Gran is far heavier."

"Don't you dare compare me to this cretin," the sword warned him.

The two butlers ignored the sword's words and followed behind Zero as he left the room and walked through the hallways to the entrance of the Grand Chase headquarters. The wanderer was infinitely grateful that there was no one around to gawk and stare at him carrying the sleeping stygian.

After he stepped out of the building, though, there was plenty of staring, gawking, and laughing—the laughing being courtesy of Ley and somehow not causing Dio to stir in the slightest.

"...Well, I wasn't expecting this, but thank you for taking one for the team, Zero," Knight Master stated. "And Ley, please get off the ground and cease laughing. At this rate you'll die of asphyxiation. Now, we've set up a spell to transport you four to the entrance of Xenia. When you're ready, just step into the circle on the ground."

Zero looked down and realized that there was a large circle surrounded in runes carved into the ground. He likely had not noticed it before because he was too occupied attempting to hold onto Dio. The wanderer entered the circle behind Rufus, who seemed the most eager to leave. Ley eventually managed to regain her composure and floated into the circle with her butler. The summoner was still giggling to herself and continuing to hold her sides.

The wanderer did not understand what she found so amusing about the situation. Zero was simply assisting his comrade, nothing more. It was nothing to laugh about. The silver-haired demon then began to wonder if he had ever actually laughed before, and when he finally broke free of his musings they had already been transported to the land of the gods.

"This is it? What a desolate place," Rufus commented.

"This is just the border," Ley explained. "It is rather boring, though, isn't it?"

The demons and butlers began walking towards the Temple of Cuatal. Rufus occasionally asked a question about their surroundings (which either Ley or Zero would promptly answer), but besides that the group remained fairly silent, save Dio's snoring. Alfred and Sebastian remained behind the wanderer at all times, constantly keeping an eye on their master.

After around ten minutes of walking, the wanderer felt Dio began to stir and groan. "…The hell…the hell am I? Am I moving? Wait…this is Zero's back! The hell! LET ME DOWN!" The stygian quickly began to struggle, thrashing about in an attempt to get free.

"Please stop. You will only injure yourself," the wanderer stated, tightening his arm around the other demon's waist.

"I'll injure **you** if you don't let go of me!"

"As you wish." Zero released his hold on the other demon; the stygian then rolled off of the wanderer's shoulder and fell on his ass in a rather undignified manner.

Dio grumbled and complained loudly for several minutes before finally getting to his feet. "Who the **hell** thought that was a good idea?" he demanded.

"Alfred did," Sebastian said, pointing accusingly at the other butler.

"It was the only way," Alfred explained calmly.

The stygian quickly turned to Zero and hit the wanderer in the arm hard enough to bruise. "And you! What did you think you were doing, carrying me like that? I am a MAN, dammit; treat me like one!"

A normal demon likely would have been provoked by both the physical and verbal attack. Zero was not bothered, though. "I did not know that it would upset you like this. I apologize." Demons rarely apologized, as it meant that they were acknowledging they had made a mistake, and that conflicted with their pride. However, the wanderer had almost no pride to begin with, and consequently he had no qualms with uttering two little words.

Dio had not expected such a response, and bemusement was apparent on his features. "Well…just don't let it happen again…I guess…" he mumbled awkwardly. The stygian looked up and noticed that Ley and Rufus were both staring at him from about ten feet ahead. "What are you two staring at?"

"A pathetic display," the bounty hunter responded, turning around and continuing on without the others.

Ley looked as though she was going to make a snarky remark, but her butler promptly ushered her away before she could rile the stygian further.

"Alfred, Sebastian…go on ahead. I need to talk with Zero in private," Dio ordered. When the two butlers did not move, he added, "Do it now or I'll end both of you."

After the two reluctantly ran ahead to catch up with the others, the stygian looked back at Zero. "Listen, I'm not actually that mad at you. I know you were only doing it because they asked you to and you didn't want to have to wait for me. If anything, I'm glad that you were the one to carry me instead of some other idiot," he admitted, staring at the ground and avoiding eye contact.

"Then why were you so upset?" the wanderer inquired.

"I'm upset with myself, really," he clarified. "You see, last night I was out hunting and instead of just killing my prey like I should have I ended up toying with it a little first. The human managed to drug me before it died, and when I got back I was too proud and stubborn to tell anyone, so I ended up passing out for a while. I mean, that's not how a chieftain of a demon clan should act! I shouldn't be out making mistakes like that, and I certainly shouldn't screw up so badly that I have to be carried around!"

Zero had nothing to say, and he was not certain if he was supposed to speak at all. No one had ever opened up to the wanderer like that before, and he had no idea how to respond. He hoped that the stygian was simply pausing to take a breath, but unfortunately for him the magenta-haired demon was now staring at the wanderer expectantly. "All I can say is that you should be more careful with your own life. You are a very important person, Dio."

"Yeah, I guess," the stygian agreed with a sigh. He seemed quite disappointed with Zero's response, and the wanderer honestly had no idea what he had done wrong. Dio began to walk after the others, and after a moment the other demon followed him.

The silver-haired demon ruminated over the stygian's reaction, wondering what he was supposed to have said in such a situation. Zero was not used to such social interactions—he had been living with only his master and Grandark until around a few months ago, and he was still becoming accustomed to constantly being around so many other people. Even after a few months, he still avoided the chasers whenever he could to avoid an awkward conversation. Dio was the only member of the Grand Chase that the wanderer felt even remotely comfortable talking with, and even then he often alienated the stygian with his "unusual" way of thinking.

After around twenty minutes of walking in silence, the stygian held back and began to walk beside Zero. "…You're goal to kill Void kind of dominates your life, doesn't it Zero?" he asked.

"What brought you to ask that?"

"I was just thinking. You always act very professional, as if life is just one giant mission to you."

"My life is simply one long mission," the wanderer replied. "I was created for the sole purpose of defeating Void."

Dio paused, seeming to be a bit surprised at how easily the silver-haired demon had spoken such words. "Let's say that you survive and defeat Void successfully. What will you do then?"

"I will assist Gran in finding a body," Zero replied without hesitation. Despite what the stygian might have believed, Zero had given quite a bit of thought as to how he would spend the remainder of his life if he managed to survive the fight with Void.

"Why would you do a crazy thing like that? That sword's done nothing but make fun of you since day one."

Grandark had woken at the sound of its name and had been listening closely to the conversation ever since. "So what if I make fun of Zero? He's not bothered by it, and I need some way to get out my frustration at being trapped in this stupid blade!"

Dio rolled his eyes at the sword's remark. "Oh please. You always complain about that, but it can't possibly be that bad."

"Oh yes? Why don't you try living for eons in a body that can't move on its own or regulate its own body temperature!" the sword ranted. "I'm dragged through the dirt, coated in blood and entrails half the time, no one listens to me, I weigh a ton, and I can only see the direction I'm facing!"

"Stop complaining. Zero spoils you rotten, you oversized letter opener. Now stop trying to hog all the attention and let me go back to what I was saying," Dio stated, effectively silencing the sentient sword. "Anyway, back to what I was saying. You need to take a break from this goal of yours to defeat Void! All this training and reading and shit is only going to wear you out; take a break once in a damn while. Have you ever even done something just for the hell of it? Have you ever even slept?"

"No, such frivolous activities would be a waste of time."

The stygian sighed and placed his normal hand to his forehead. "There's so much wrong with you that I don't even know where to start, Zero. I give up trying to change your way of thinking; it's obviously become inveterate after years of living under that master of yours."

Zero was about to respond when he noticed that the others had stopped. He quickly noticed that there were two beings blocking the path. Both beings were dressed strangely; one of them was garbed in green and red, while the other was dressed in blue and white. Both beings appeared to be male and each carried a tribal spear.

"I am Lenasien, Guardian of the Wind," the one in green proclaimed.

"And I am Octus, Guardian of the Forest," the other finished.

The two crossed their spears in a display of defense, and the one called "Lenasien" began to speak again. "We are the Gatekeepers of the Land of the Gods."

"Demons, what business do you have in Xenia?" Octus inquired coldly.

* * *

Author's Notes:

-Hi guys. I have started an even bigger project. lol, hopefully I'll finish this thing soon.

-If you're confused about the demons-don't-have-to-sleep sort of thing and the eating souls thing, see my previous two stories.

-Oh hai Alfred and Sebastian. xD If you've noticed, I tend to mention minor characters a lot. Since Grand Chase doesn't seem to mention them a whole lot, I basically just made up the personalities and stuff.

-The other demons have been to Xenia at some point because they've been in Aernas sometime in the past before they actually joined the Grand Chase, so they could have gone to Xenia long before Thanatos started taking over. Rufus hasn't because he's new to GC, therefore I have no idea how long he's been in Aernas, so I have no idea.

-I just assumed that if Zero could that heavy-as-heck sword he could also carry Dio. And btw, that's not some kind of implication of yaoi. They're just friends, and that carrying scene was just to kind of introduce some of Dio's character development stuff. Also, yes, Dio is upset even though he was just carried over the shoulder. He is an extremely proud person.

-Poor Gran. xD Seriously though, I feel bad for that thing. Being trapped in a sword body does not sound like fun.

-Dio says that Zero's "spoiling" Grandark because Zero's always cleaning and tending to it. lulz, Gran's kind of a an attention-hound.

-Ah, Octus and Lenasien. xD Well, these guys ARE in Xenia Border. Don't worry, in this they're not corrupted or anything like in the game. They're just being jerks because they have good reason to want to keep demons out of Xenia (lol Astaroth). They also aren't currently aware that Rufus, Ley, Dio, and Zero are part of the Grand Chase, so that too. If you're wondering why they don't know that but Ley, Dio, and Zero have all been to Xenia at some point, it's because Octus and Lenasien were basically hired just around the time Thanatos started taking over. Ley, Zero, and Dio could have very well been to Xenia before they were hired.

-The next chapter will be out as soon as I can write it. This next one'll be about Temple of Cuatal and stuff. Oh great, now the gods of Xenia need personalities. Well great, more stuff to make up. -.- ;


	2. Chapter 2: Temple of Cuatal

In an instant the bounty hunter had raised his dual pistols and pointed one at each of the Gatekeepers' foreheads. "Let us by," he demanded.

Zero looked to either side of him and noticed that no one seemed as though they were going to attempt to stop Rufus. The wanderer took it upon himself to step between the demon and the two gatekeepers, his back now the target of the two eyeteeth. Behind him, the wanderer could hear Rufus scoff in annoyance and reluctantly lower his weapons.

"Oh, did you have to do that, vagrant?" Ley asked, sounding quite bored. "That fight could have kept me entertained for at least ten more minutes."

The wanderer ignored her and focused on the two guardians in front of them. Both of the gatekeepers seemed rather unnerved with his appearance—most people were, it apparently made them feel uncomfortable—but Zero had become accustomed to that sort of reaction a very long time ago.

"We have been sent by the Grand Chase to check on the Xenian Gods," the silver-haired demon explained, removing the Grand Chase necklace from around his neck and handing it to Lenasien.

The green-clad gatekeeper examined the necklace for a moment before returning it to Zero. Lenasien and Octus looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the demons.

"The Grand Chase has restored peace to this land," Lenasien stated. "They have also saved Octus as well as myself. We owe them a great debt."

Octus quickly added, "Besides that, if you try anything the gods will deal you swift retribution. For those reasons, we see no harm in allowing you to pass."

The two uncrossed their spears and took a few steps away from each other, revealing a path behind them. "You may pass," they stated simultaneously.

The demons wasted no time in continuing down the path that the two gatekeepers had been guarding. Zero held back and allowed the others to be in the lead. Rufus, though, began to slow his pace, and eventually he and the wanderer were walking beside each other.

"You should have just let me kill them," the bounty hunter stated.

"It would have taken up quite a bit of time," the wanderer replied. "Also, we had no reason to kill them. They were willing to cooperate and they let us by without incident."

"It's in a demon's nature to kill. You can't possibly tell me that some part of you didn't want to kill those two."

In all honesty, Zero had felt that urge to kill and destroy. However, he had been trained to subdue almost all feelings; he had done this for so long that it had long since become instinctive. "I simply do not wish to kill unless it is absolutely necessary," he replied aloud.

"I'm only a half-demon, yet I still behave more like a demon than you. Actually, are you even a demon?"

"Mostly."

"'Mostly?'"

"Yes."

Rufus simply shook his head and changed the subject. "How far are we from this temple place?"

"Not far. We should be there in a matter of minutes, provided we do not encounter any enemies along the way. It is strange that we have not encountered any yet."

"'Strange?' You mean boring."

Suddenly Zero's ears picked up on the sound of battle. Seconds later, his nose detected blood. After several more moments, the bounty hunter picked up on the signs of a fight as well. Rufus leered to no one in particular and quickly dashed off in the direction of the clash; the other demons seemed to have already done so.

"Kids these days. They're so easily excitable," Grandark commented dryly. "It's not even that many monsters…and someone's already dealing with it."

"…Who?"

The sword sighed. "You know I'm not good with names. It's someone familiar."

Zero began to run, and reached the temple in a matter of moments. Surrounding the base of the temple was a multitude of monsters that one normally found in Xenia Border. Ley and Rufus were standing a few feet away from the mob, picking off their opponents from a distance. Dio (as usual) was in the midst of the enemies, brutally hacking and slashing away to his heart's content. The three butlers were all standing a good distance away from both their masters and the monsters—they would not fight unless they were told to.

On the other side of the tower was another being that was currently fighting a Beholder. It took a few moments for the wanderer to catch a proper look at the fighter, but when he did he recognized her almost immediately. "Did you mean Vanessa, Gran?"

"That sounds right."

Vanessa seemed to have only suffered minor wounds—she must have been the source of the blood he detected earlier—and she appeared to be handling the situation well on her own. Nevertheless, Zero decided to join her.

She did not notice him initially, but when the number of enemies around her began to sharply abate Vanessa looked up and, for a brief moment, the two made eye contact. The two then refocused on their respective current opponents.

"Imagine my surprise to hear that not only is the tower surrounded by a horde of beasts, but demons have managed to enter the continent."

It took the wanderer a few moments to realize that she was speaking to him. After he did not respond, Vanessa continued, "I certainly didn't expect you to be one of those demons. It's been quite a long time, hasn't it?"

"I am surprised you recognized me so quickly."

"Well, you haven't changed a bit," she explained before promptly slamming her weapon into a nearby Moss Monster.

Zero quickly slashed at a Mutated Skeleton and replied, "Demons age extremely slowly."

The two remained silent as they continued to fight. Eventually the combined efforts of the four demons and Vanessa resulted in the destruction of every single monster that had clustered around the temple.

"Now that that's settled, care to explain why you're here?" Vanessa inquired.

"My associates and I are with the Grand Chase," the wanderer stated. "We wish to speak to Lord Samsara."

She looked at him critically for a moment. "Hmm…alright. Our god has recovered almost completely from his former possession. I see no harm in allowing to you speak with him."

At that moment the other three demons approached Zero and Vanessa. Dio scrutinized the latter for a few moments before asking, "You're that protector of the temple, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am Vanessa," she stated. "Zero has already informed me that you wish to speak with Master Samsara. Please, follow me…and don't touch anything." She then turned and walked towards the entrance of the temple, not once looking back to see if the demons were following.

"Huh. We help her, yet she still treats us like crap," Dio mused. "And they say demons are confusing..."

"Stop thinking; you'll only hurt yourself," Ley commented before floating off after Vanessa, her butler only steps behind. After a few moments the stygian followed her, grumbling complaints to his butlers under his breath. Rufus paused to look up at the temple before following the others.

"Don't just stand there. At this rate I'd get inside quicker on my own," Gran stated sardonically. "What are you waiting for?"

"I was simply thinking…that this land has not changed, either."

"Of course it has. Thanatos attempted to rule over all of the other gods, only to get defeated and have his power stolen by some demon that used to protect this temple."

"…Right…"

Zero ran to catch up with the others. Fortunately for him they were still on the first floor. The bounty hunter was looking up at all of the floors above them and groaning softly to himself.

"We're going to have to climb all the way up there?" he complained.

Dio scoffed. "Stop being such a pussy. I know you're only half of a demon, but I thought you could handle some damn stairs. There aren't even any enemies in here. Speaking of that, why aren't there any monsters in here?"

"We have managed to flush out the majority of them," Vanessa replied, beginning to scale the platforms that led to the highest floor. "A few vermin still linger, but we are working to remove them as well."

The demons then began the long and rather tedious climb to the highest floor. No one dared to break the silence, and there was not even much to talk about in the first place. Around halfway to the top Ley insisted that Jeeves carry her, which prompted several biting remarks from Dio and almost lead to a fight. When the demons were around three-fourths of the way to the top, Sebastian collapsed from exhaustion and the stygian was forced to carry his butler. By then Dio was incredibly annoyed, and everyone had begun to remain at least five feet from the magenta-haired demon to prevent setting him off on a murderous rampage.

Eventually they reached the top. Vanessa had not even been fazed by the long ascent, likely from having climbed up and down the tower on a regular basis. The highest floor of the tower was a large, circular room that was illuminated by a skylight. The skylight dominated the ceiling and provided a rather excessive amount of light. In the center of the room was an enormous, pillar-like aquamarine crystal that gave off even more light. Strange gilded symbols of circles and wheels adorned almost all of the walls.

"So…where's this god we were going to talk to?" Rufus inquired, quickly surveying the room.

"Master Samsara does not appear to be here. It is not a problem; he merely needs to be called upon." Vanessa cleared her throat and in a strong voice proclaimed, "I call upon the God of Circulation, Samsara! Great god of cycles; controller of light, please return to the temple dedicated to you."

"Don't you think that sounds a bit ridiculous?"

"It is tradition. Now be quiet and mind your manners."

Suddenly a yellow light appeared in one corner of the room. The light quickly began to grow in size and intensity; soon the light was nearly blinding. As a demon's eyes were quite sensitive to light, all of the demons were forced to turn away. As suddenly as it had appeared, the light vanished. Zero was the first to turn back to where the light had been. In the strange light's place was Samsara, who (thankfully) was not currently in his godly form.

Currently Samsara was around the size of a normal human, his face obscured with the same sort of mask that Vanessa was wearing. The symbol of circulation that normally was present on his back was missing.

As part of a conditioned response, Zero found himself giving the god a small bow. Ley, Dio, and Rufus ignored him; they were used to him doing things that demons considered unusual.

"You couldn't have warned us about the damn light?" the stygian complained to Vanessa.

"Don't you dare use such foul language in the presence of a god!"

Samsara had ignored the squabbling pair and seemed to be accessing the others. When his head turned to Zero, the wanderer forced himself to remain perfectly still. He could not determine if the god had recognized him or was merely intrigued by his "unusual" appearance.

"…Vanessa, why have you summoned me?" Samsara finally inquired. His voice was very quiet, yet even so it managed to immediately end Dio and Vanessa's petty argument.

"Master Samsara, these demons wish to speak to you."

"Very well. You are dismissed."

She gave the god a low bow of respect, nodded slightly in the direction of the demons, and quickly began to descent the staircase that led to the temple's entrance.

"So, what business do you all have here?" the god addressed the demons.

Everyone quickly looked at the wanderer, as if they were expecting him to speak for them. Zero would normally be able to do so with no reservations; however this time it was not simply two gatekeepers he had never encountered before.

"If you don't start talking," Grandark whispered softly, "I will."

The silver-haired demon knew that allowing the sword to speak to such a powerful being could only end in disaster. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before responding, "Lord Samsara, we represent the Grand Chase. We are here merely to inquire your condition."

"There is no need to be so formal, Zero."

The wanderer nearly cringed. Part of him had been hoping that the god would not remember him at all. Now it was quite evident to all that Samsara and Zero had known each other in the past. Grandark seemed to have gotten bored with his current location already and loudly professed, "Just tell us if you're corrupted or not so we can leave."

Samsara sighed. "Ah, the Grandark…"

"Stop reminiscing and just tell us," the sword shouted in irritation.

"I have recovered the majority of my power. The former darkness that enveloped this land has quickly begun to dissipate, and the enemies that used to adulterate this temple have been almost completely removed. However, I am located on the edge of Xenia. You should focus your concern on the gods that occupy the interior of the continent. Be careful, though. As those gods in the interior of Xenia had been more affected by the darkness, they are far less…tolerant of demons."

Zero bowed to the god once more. "Thank you for your time, Lord Samsara."

The god of cycles crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "Despite the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth…some things never seem to change." With that Samsara left in a quick flash of light that blinded all of the demons for several seconds.

The second he could see clearly again, the wanderer headed straight for the stairs. He knew confrontation—from Dio, mostly—was inevitable, but he also knew that there would be no physical fighting if he was descending stairs at the time.

"I don't get why you're running; just stand and fight."

"I would prefer not to be injured unnecessarily," the wanderer replied.

Grandark chuckled softly. "Then don't hold back. I want to see what you can do if you really use me to my potential."

"That would be dangerous."

"You're no fun."

Zero shrugged and kept moving. He could hear the stygian directly behind him now. Dio placed his rake hand on the wanderer's shoulder and gripped it firmly, leaving small gashes in the flesh. "So Zero…do you want to just explain everything now, or should I get it out of you the hard way? I don't care; it's your choice," he stated nonchalantly.

"Why is this information so important to you?"

"'Cause you're my friend and I'm seriously beginning to wonder how a freaking god knows you," he replied, tightening his grip on the other demon's shoulder. "And you know that when I get curious there's no stopping me."

The wanderer remained silent for a moment, debating mentally over how to respond. Blood was beginning to trickle down his arm and it was becoming quite uncomfortable. "I will tell you when we have left this temple and are heading for Valstrath."

"Eh, I guess I can wait then." Dio released his grasp on the other demon's shoulder. In seconds Alfred was at his young master's side, offering the stygian a cloth to use to clean blood from his rake hand.

After what felt like an hour, the wanderer finally reached the bottom of the enormous staircase. By then the small incisions in his shoulder had healed. The blood that had already spilled had dried on Zero's arm, leaving several small ribbons of red that stood out on the otherwise rather pale skin. The smell of his own blood lingered—the silver-haired demon was grateful that he was accustomed to it, otherwise he might have become nauseous.

The wanderer continued past the temple towards Valstrath. It was around midday at that point; the sun shone brightly overhead and gave off a pleasant heat. The stygian quickly caught up to Zero and was waiting expectantly for answers.

"I have been here before…" the wanderer began.

"No shit."

Grandark decided that, for once, it would defend its wielder. "Be quiet and let him finish a sentence, you impatient twit."

"As I was saying, I was here quite a long time ago. When the Xenian gods learned that my master had created a blade of Gran's power, they became wary as to who would wield it. It was only natural that they would want be sure that the wielder of a sword that could potentially kill them was in responsible hands. It was decided that I would spend several years here to train where the gods could safely observe me. This is how I knew Lord Samsara. I was surprised to discover that even though a god lives for an extremely long time and it has been many years since we last conversed, he still recalls me."

"And you just went along with it?"

"Yes. It was an excellent opportunity for me to improve my skills as well as to build up an immunity to the extreme climates present in this continent."

Dio snorted and focused ahead of him. "It's almost infuriating how passive you are, Zero. I can't even get you into a fight. The only thing I've even seen you get even remotely annoyed at is…" The stygian suddenly trailed off, a devious smile beginning to form on his lips. "Well, never mind."

Zero did not like the sound of that at all, but there was not much he could do about the situation. He instead focused on the path ahead of him. It would be about an hour before they reached Valstrath, which would likely be teeming with monsters. He was already beginning to regret returning to the land of the gods.

* * *

Author's Notes:

-Wow, finally managed to finish! Sorry about the lateness, but these chapters are quite a bit longer than I'm used to. Also, I looked up the dialogue from Temple of Cuatal (as well as the background images) a a lot to try and get the whole characters and setting thing as close as I could get while still making it not exactly like the original. -.- Considering that I bet half of it is still inaccurate, that was probably pointless, but whatever.

-I honestly still don't know what Samsara and Vanessa really act like, so I kinda just gave them general dialogue and such. I'll try to do better with the other gods. Also, there is a picture of Samsara in non-god form floating around somewhere.

-I know that in the game the whole Zero-was-in-Xenia thing was never mentioned. Yes, I just kinda made it all up. But like with all the stuff I make the heck up (probably around 40% of everything I've written) I at least attempted to explain it. Please don't kill me.

-Dio's still kinda a jerk. Nothing new there.

-Yes, even though Ley's freaking floating she still had to have Jeeves carry her. xD Spoiled brat alert, right there.

-If you've read my first story, you'll know what Dio's talking about. Dio'll enact his plan quite a bit later, trust me. Just be patient.

-Considering Chapter 2 took me this freaking long, Chapter 3's probably going to take a while. -.- Next up'll be a brief mention of Valstrath followed by Wyrm's Maw. Yay.


	3. Chapter 3: Valstrath and Wyrm's Maw

As Zero had predicted, Valstrath was indeed swarmed with monsters. Vile Nagas, Corrupt Rangers, Goshimon—they had all been present when the demons had arrived. After quickly explaining to Rufus that the Cursed Cairn Stones absorbed one's life energy, the wanderer assisted the others in battling against the enemies.

The sounds of battle had quickly become almost deafening. To Zero's left, the summoner was using her "Jeeves Etiquette" skill to send a particularly persistent enemy across the room into a wall. Dio was on a platform above them, pulling monsters closer with the "Dominate" technique before promptly disposing of them. The bounty hunter was standing on another nearby platform, picking off his targets from above.

The wanderer continued through the enemies around him, not nearly as passionate about the fighting as the others. He cut down his opponents with a few precise slashes of the Grandark, occasionally using one of his skills if he became surrounded. After only around ten minutes the entire dungeon was completely devoid of monsters.

"Well, that was fun while it lasted," Dio remarked, jumping down from the platform and landing near the wanderer. "But I'm bored again, and hungry, too."

"Why are you telling us this?" Grandrak inquired dryly. The sword had become even more snarky than usual, likely due to the fact that it had not been cleaned yet and was currently quite adulterated.

"I want you to go hunt with me, Zero," the stygian explained. "You know, because of what happened **last time**?"

The silver-haired demon had not told anyone that he had actually not hunted in years. As it was not necessary for him to consume souls, he found killing to obtain souls pointless and a waste of his time. He never quite found the taste appealing, either. "…I do not feel up to it right now," he lied.

"You sure? C'mon, it'll be a nice break."

"Go with Rufus," Zero suggested.

Dio sighed and shrugged casually. "If you say so." He turned to his butlers (who had been following their master ever since they entered Valstrath) and told them to stay with the wanderer. The stygian then walked to Rufus, put the bounty hunter in a headlock, and teleported out of the room before his captive could fire a round at him.

The wanderer began to exit Valstrath; after a moment Ley floated up to him with her butler in tow. "…Vagrant, where is that fool who foolishly considers himself to be powerful?"

"He left with Rufus to hunt."

"Then I shall go as well," she declared. "Come now, Jeeves!"

"Yes Mistress Ley."

The butler and summoner then disappeared as well, leaving Zero with Dio's two demon butlers. When the silver-haired demon began to resume walking towards the Wyrm's Maw, Sebastian ran up to him and stated, "Shouldn't we stay here? Young Master might be upset…"

"He will be able to discern our location."

After only around five minutes of walking, Grandark began to pester its wielder, constantly reminding Zero that it still had not been cleaned since they had arrived in Xenia. The wanderer quickly surrendered to his sword and settled himself on the ground near a tree. He then thoroughly cleaned the blade while the two butlers simply admired the scenery.

When Zero was just about to put the cloth he had used to clean the sword with away, Grandark opened its eye and stated, "You should clean yourself while you're at it."

The silver-haired demon recalled that one of his shoulders and part of his arm were still encrusted with traces of blood. He cleaned the blood from his skin quickly, noticing that Alfred was beginning to watch him from the corner of his eyes. When the butler noticed Zero had caught him staring, he stated, "You will have to excuse Young Master for such behavior. He is used to getting what he wants."

"I do not particularly mind. I can understand that he is simply curious, and he knows that I am capable of recovering from such small injuries in a relatively infinitesimal time."

"Even so, you should be wary," Alfred cautioned. "Young Master is the type of demon that will attempt to take advantage of you. If you give him an inch he will take a mile."

"I will keep that in mind. Now let us continue."

* * *

Sudden Dio POV for no discernible reason

* * *

Dio had been rather annoyed to discover that Zero had continued on without him, but some part of the stygian had expected it.

Eventually he caught up to the wanderer (as well as his butlers) about halfway between Valstrath and Wyrm's Maw. He fell into step beside the silver-haired demon; Rufus kept around two feet behind them.

"Was your endeavor successful?" Zero inquired out of courtesy.

"It was decent," he replied, sighing and remembering the bland taste of the soul he had recently eaten. "Nothing special, though. At least the human went down easy."

Rufus scoffed from behind them and pointed out, "That's because I shot him first, you ass."

"You be quiet; the grown-ups are talking here," the stygian replied over his shoulder. Dio absolutely loathed being interrupted; it was even worse that it was a stupid little half-breed who was talking back to him.

The stygian then turned back to Zero, who was as emotionless as ever. The magenta-haired demon never could tell what was going on in the wanderer's mind—he really wanted to know, though. "Valstrath…that's where the Chase first encountered Ashtaroth, isn't it?" he asked in an attempt to coax the silver-haired demon into a conversation.

"Yes, it is."

"Did you ever talk with him?"

"Perhaps twice at the most."

Zero's brusque answers were beginning to annoy the stygian. He was about to try and strike up another conversation when a certain pink-haired summoner appeared. The two noble demons quickly began to argue as they walked, and before the stygian knew it they were crossing over into the intensely blistering land of Wyrm's Maw.

Despite the fact that he was not even wearing a real shirt, Dio quickly began to overheat and start sweating. Both the bounty hunter and the summoner were in a similar state; the wanderer seemed to be only a bit red. The stygian thought back to what Zero had said about building up immunity to the intense climate and wondered exactly how tolerant the silver-haired demon had become to the heat.

They proceeded through the dungeon as usual. There were a few enemies present in the dungeon, but not nearly enough to keep Dio's interest. Meeting with the God of Fire was only interesting for about five minutes—those five minutes consisting of the stygian attempting to goad Starkiln into a fight. In the end Zero had pulled the magenta-haired demon away and politely asked him to remain quiet. What Starkiln had told them wasn't even that interesting, either.

As they began to exit Wyrm's Maw, Dio realized that he was almost completely coated in sweat, and volcanic ash was smudged all over his exposed skin. The stygian did not mind being covered in blood, but sweat and ash were a completely different matter.

The magenta-haired demon was not the only filthy one, either—only Zero had been spared, as he appeared to be accustomed to the terrain.

"Zero, you know this place pretty well, don't you?" the stygian acquired, irritation clear in his voice.

"Yes."

"And haven't you noticed that all of us are filthy?"

"Yes."

"Well…?"

The wanderer's expression did not change a fraction, but even so Dio was almost positive that Zero beginning to put two and two together. After about a moment the silver-haired demon stated, "While the Altar of Judgment is on a separate body of land than the Wyrm's Maw, the warm air from the latter permeates the ice from the Altar of Judgment in certain locations along the border. If my memory still serves and this land has not changed significantly since I was last here, you should be able to locate a few hot springs…"

After crossing over into the Altar of Judgment, it took only a matter of minutes to locate one of the hot springs Zero had spoken of. They discovered two fairly large pools relatively close to each other. Ley claimed the warmest pool for herself and told the men not to dare peek. Dio felt nauseated at just the thought of seeing the summoner naked again.

The stygian had quickly stripped himself of all of his clothes and practically shoved them at his butlers to clean. He felt no embarrassment even though he was stark naked in front of both Rufus and Zero. Dio had always been incredibly comfortable with his body, after all.

The magenta-haired demon quickly settled in the water. It was only a bit warmer than tepid, but at that moment it felt like heaven to him. He wished he could simply enjoy the water; however the bounty hunter and wanderer were still staring at him.

"Look, I know I'm pretty damn attractive, but neither of you are my type. So stop staring already."

Rufus rolled his eyes, clearly not amused, and Zero simply leaned against a nearby pillar of ice. Dio noted with some amusement that the wanderer's cheeks were bright red.

Dio sat back in the water and watched as the bounty hunter looked back at him defiantly. "So, are you going to get in, half-breed? If you're just self-conscious about the size of your-"

"NO." In an attempt to prove the stygian wrong, Rufus quickly shed his clothing and placed himself in the water so that he was directly facing Dio. The bounty hunter glared at the other demon with a smug, triumphant sort of smile.

The magenta-haired demon turned towards Zero next. "So what about you?" he addressed the wanderer.

"I will remain where I am."

"Well that's not interesting at all! C'mon, take something off. The mask, at least."

"No."

Dio laughed inwardly. The wanderer could say "no" all he wanted, but in the end it was merely just a word. Zero wouldn't lift a finger unless he absolutely had to—that would be his downfall. The stygian firmly believed his little scheme was flawless. The anticipation, though, was nearly killing him.

The stygian forced himself to wait until Rufus had exited the water, changed, and left the area. Dio had made sure that the bounty hunter would leave by telling his butlers to steal Rufus' pistols while the demons were bathing and hide the weapons a mile away.

Eventually the bounty hunter got up and changed back into his clothes. Rufus quickly noticed that his weapons were missing and hurriedly began to search the nearby area. After not finding them he decided to retrace his steps and head back towards the bridge between the Altar of Judgment and Wyrm's Maw.

Dio waited until he was sure the bounty hearing was out of earshot before exiting the water himself and quickly pulling on his clothes. He looked over at Zero and noticed that the wanderer had put down Grandark and was currently facing away from the stygian. It was perfect.

The magenta-haired demon abruptly tackled the other demon from behind, pinning Zero to the ground. Dio seated himself on the wanderer's back, using his weight to keep the other demon pressed firmly against the ice below them.

"What is the meaning of this?" Zero inquired. The stygian noted that, despite the situation, the wanderer's voice had not changed at all—it was still that monotone that drove Dio nearly insane.

"I'm giving you an ultimatum," he explained. "You can just lay there and let me take off your mask, or you can fight me off. Either way, I win."

The wanderer was silent. After a moment Zero's body went limp, and the stygian interpreted it as a sign that the silver-haired demon was surrendering. Dio took a moment to revel in his success; in that moment he let his guard down, just long enough for the wanderer to quickly shift his weight and throw the stygian off.

Dio quickly scrambled to his feet. By the time he was up, Zero had already managed to stand and was now holding Grandark loosely at his side. It was clear to the magenta-haired demon that if he continued to fight, the wanderer would as well. The stygian leered at the thought of such a challenge and quickly summoned his spear to his hand.

In the next moment, two skills went off at almost the exact same time. The first was Dio's "Onrush," followed milliseconds later by Zero's "Amid." The stygian had no time to properly react; he had already built up momentum and was charging the other demon. Dio found himself passing **through** the wanderer entirely, only to have Zero literally stab him in the back.

Almost any wound inflicted by the Grandark was major, due to the blade's size and power. The trade off, though, was that the blade greatly hindered Zero's mobility, so it was fairly easy to avoid the sword. However, this time Dio had been struck right on, and the gaping wound in his center would take a while to heal.

The stygian quickly pulled himself from the blade and teleported five feet behind the wanderer. There was nothing he could do then except to wait until the effects of "Amid" wore off. He expected Zero to take advantage of the situation and attack the stygian, but no attacks ever came. The wanderer simply stood there and watched him. The second the other demon's technique wore off, Dio used "Chaotic Spark". When the spiked ball appeared Zero quickly went into a defensive stance; however he was a moment too late and a spike managed to lodge itself in the wanderer's shoulder. The silver-haired demon currently would not be able to remove the spike, as it would mean lowering his defensive stance.

While the wanderer was still stationary, Dio quickly used "Necrotic," trapping Zero for a few seconds. The stygian managed to get in a few small attacks before the other demon got free. When the silver-haired demon was freed, he quickly removed the spike from his shoulder and the two demons exchanged blows for a while.

Dio managed to land numerous hits on the wanderer, but most of them were fairly minor. Conversely, Zero focused on being defensive and only landed a hit every once in a while, but when he did he caused quite a bit of harm.

The stygian quickly became frustrated at his lack of progress and used "Rake Hand" to leave long gashes in the other demon's chest and send Zero flying back. The wanderer did not move back as far as a normal being would due to Grandark's weight, but it was enough to give Dio time to set up another attack. The stygian then used "Rebound" to send Zero flying back towards him. The magenta-haired was about to use another skill when Zero got up before he had expected.

The second the wanderer recovered, he leaped into the air and threw down his blade at the stygian's feet. Dio recognized "Bleeding Gash" and quickly teleported. The magenta-haired demon disappeared just as Zero slammed into the ground and Grandark's spikes emerged from the ground.

Dio reappeared a safe distance away. He could see the Grandark still buried in the ground…but where was…? The stygian quickly turned around, just in time to have Zero's hand thrust through his chest.

"S-shit, Zero," Dio remarked, smirking widely. "You actually managed to get me this time. I'm proud." He then laughed aloud to himself, for no reason other than he had lost a lot of blood and he was starting to become a bit delusional.

The stygian knew then that he had lost. The wounds from before were all still bleeding, and combined with the latest wound he was simply losing too much blood to continue fighting. He could already feel darkness crowding the edges of his vision, and the sound of his own breathing seemed to be getting farther and farther away. He would not die from such wounds, but he certainly would not be able to stay conscious for much longer, either.

"O-one thing still…bothers me, though," the stygian mused aloud. "You never once…looked like you enjoyed f-fighting me. Your face was as…boring as ever. That means I'm going to pass out…for nothing."

Zero said nothing and did not move. He seemed to simply be waiting for Dio to become comatose.

The magenta-haired demon chuckled darkly as an idea struck him. "Well, I won't **l-let** it be for nothing." With the last of his energy he reached out with his rake hand and tore the strap of the wanderer's mask before snatching the mask from Zero's face. The last thing the stygian saw before he succumbed to unconsciousness was the other demon's inexpressive golden eyes.

Dio finally stirred, wondering why the hell his head hurt so much. At first the thought he was suffering from a hangover, but he then remembered that demons couldn't get drunk and he didn't even drink in the first place. Then he suddenly remembered the fight with Zero.

After a few moments he noticed that someone was dealing with his wounds. At first he thought it was Alfred, but the touch was too gentle to be the butler. Alfred had always been firm when dealing with the stygian. Dio soon recognized the hands as belonging to Zero—the wanderer was always overly-gentle, as if he was afraid of breaking anything he touched.

"…Zero? The hell are you doing?" he mumbled groggily.

"…I am pleased to see you are awake," the wanderer stated.

Dio opened his eyes and glanced at Zero, who was currently sitting beside him and looking down at the stygian. The silver-haired demon's entire face was as void of emotion as ever. "Hah, you liar," the stygian muttered.

"Simply because I do not express my emotions does not mean I do not have them."

"Yeah, whatever you say. Why'd you fix me up, anyway?"

A different voice replied, "Because your blood was getting everywhere." Dio recognized that tone as belonging to Grandark. He turned his head and noticed that the sword was clean and resting against a giant pillar of ice nearby. The stygian also noticed that blood still stained the ice around them, and Zero had patched up his own wounds hastily.

Dio slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. It was around that point that he noticed that the wanderer's mask was still clutched in his rake hand. "Why didn't you put it back on?" he inquired.

"He can't exactly wear it now, you dolt," Grandark stated. "You broke the strap. We're probably going to have to go back to Oz and ask him to repair it."

"Well, it looks like I won after all, then."

"It appears so."

* * *

Author's Notes:

-Dear me that took forever. Sorry, but stuff happens, and I ended up rewriting that fight scene like five times. Even then the fight scene sucked, but hey, at least I tried.

-Yes, for the rest of this story Zero will be maskless. xD Oh Dio, you crazy jerk. If you liked my interpretation of Dio, well, you just got a whole bunch of him in this chapter. If you want to see more of one of the other characters in this, let me know.

-You'll notice that when it goes to Dio's POV the writing style changes slightly. That's to (hopefully) reflect Dio's character. The language becomes less formal, there's less introspection, and things that Zero finds significant but Dio doesn't (such as meeting with Starkiln) are only mentioned in about two sentences. lol, it was basically an experiment.

-LOL I just noticed that I've been spelling "Ashtaroth" without the first "h" all this time. xD

-I've had some grammar/spelling complaints. Sorry guys, but I try to get these chapters out as fast as I can, I don't have a beta reader, and these chapters are quite a bit longer than I'm used to. I'll try to do better in the future, but unless it totally takes away from the story it shouldn't be that much of a problem, right? Nevertheless, I'm really sorry about the errors.

-Lol yes awkward bath scene. I totally made up the fact that there are "baths" there to begin with. xD

-Yes, this is the plan Dio came up with in the last chapter. Well, basically he just wanted to get the mask off. lol. When he mentions that he would "win either way," he's basically saying that either he'd see Zero's eyes or he'd be able to goad the wanderer into a fight-both of which would never happen under normal circumstances.

-If you've read my threeshot, this chapter overall will make much more sense to you.

-Ok, before Dio fans get upset, Zero isn't necessarily stronger/a better fighter than Dio, Dio just happened to lose this particular fight. And technically he did get what he wanted in the end.

-A looooott of skill names used in this. Those were a pain in the butt to look up. I'm sorry if any of them were used incorrectly or whatnot, but I don't even have the characters Zero and Dio in Grand Chase, and practice mode only helps to a certain degree. Yes, I know that Zero and Dio are using second-job skills in this even though I use their first-job titles.

-Oh jeez this is getting harder and harder to write. I dunno, I guess I've exceeded my normal limit on story length. =.= I'll certainly try to write more, but I guess I'm just not into it as much as when I started, and stuff's been getting busy 'round here.

-To anyone who read, thank you very much. Special thanks to my sole reviewer Solica.

-Speaking of Solica, she reminded me to put a "this-is-not-yaoi" reminder. THIS IS NOT YAOI. DIO WAS TRYING TO FIGHT, NOT RAEP ZERO. THANK YOU.


	4. Chapter 4: Altar of Judgment

(Still in Dio POV for some reason)

* * *

"So where are my butlers?" the stygian inquired, looking around for any sign of the two demons.

"They are not present," Zero replied calmly. "I have not seen them for some time."

Dio groaned in annoyance. "Damn. Well, what about Ley and Rufus?"

"Absent as well."

The stygian sighed and attempted to stand up. To his surprise, Zero placed a hand on the magenta-haired demon's shoulder and forcefully pushed him back down onto his ass. "Don't tell me I shouldn't hurt myself; I'm not a kid," he muttered in protest.

"Listen, Dio, I am quite honestly tired of playing the part of your pawn. Initially I was able to tolerate the fact that you use me for your own entertainment, but now it has gone too far. This mask is very meaningful to me, and you tore it without any regard to my feelings," the wanderer began, his tone level. "Please treat me with more respect in the future."

"Why are you so damn upset? Is this stupid thing that important? You need to stop hiding behind it! You'll thank me for this someday, you know!"

Zero remained silent. The stygian looked into the blank, dull eyes of the other demon and searched for some kind of clue as to what was going on in the wanderer's mind—he found nothing.

"…You should move before you freeze."

"Dammit Zero! Don't change the subject!" the stygian shouted. As his annoyance increased to full-blown rage Dio's hand instinctively clasped around Zero's neck. "You need to deal with your stupid problems like the rest of us instead of just ignoring them!"

Grandark's sudden laughter made the stygian forget what he was going to say next. "Look who's talking! Whenever you become the slightest bit upset your thoughts turn to violence, Burning Canyon! Even now you're attempting to choke one of the only people in this world or any other that can tolerate you and your anger issues," the sword pointed out.

Dio realized what he had been doing and quickly released his grip. "So what if I have anger issues? At least I acknowledge it!"

The stygian had had enough of being lectured by a piece of scrap metal. He quickly got to his feet—Zero did not stop him this time—and moved around to the other side of the ice pillar that Gran was reposing against. He quickly punched the base of the icy structure; the pillar then broke and collapsed, causing Grandark to fall forward and become trapped under the heavy ice.

"I WILL NOT FORGET THIS!" the sword cried. To its wielder, Grandark ordered, "Get me out from under here this instant!"

The stygian began to walk away from the blade and wanderer. Over his shoulder, he stated, "We've all got shit to deal with; you're not different from any other demon I've ever met in that respect. I'll be there to help as long as you can meet me halfway. Zero, don't speak to me again until you're ready to be a man about this."

With that he walked off, thoroughly pissed and wanting only to vent his anger with destruction. That sword didn't know him; no one knew what hell he had gone through just to be where he was today. It wasn't easy, running a clan at his age. He deserved to have a little fun every once in a while, didn't he? So what if he had anger issues? So what if he liked pain just a little bit more than he probably should have?

…He was tired of thinking. It only made things worse.

* * *

(Back to the other POV…for some reason)

* * *

It took around five minutes for Zero to free his blade; by then the sword was as cold as the ice it had been pinned under. As Grandark could not regulate its own temperature, it insisted that the wanderer keep constant physical contact with the sword.

"…I believe I should apologize to Dio."

"Don't you dare. All he's done is mess with your head since you met him," the blade stated.

The wanderer was silent for a moment. "What if he is correct?"

"He's not."

"Are you positive?"

"Of course. Have I ever lied to you?"

"Constantly."

"Shut up."

Zero remained quiet as he had been ordered to—he knew better than to incite the sword's wrath. He could not help thinking, though, that there was at least some truth to the stygian's words. This was why the wanderer loathed social interaction. It only succeeded in stirring up his emotions in a way that prevented him from being able to tell them apart anymore. A part of him preferred the simple life where there was simply him, Grandark, and Oz. In those days, all he had to focus on was training.

Another part of him, though, curiously seemed to enjoy the interaction with another demon. He found it interesting to see the ideas and thoughts of another being; ideas and thoughts that differed from his own. Zero was beginning to see why Dio went to such lengths to satiate his curiosity. At the same time, though, the wanderer knew that if he lowered his guard for a moment or showed the least bit of emotional weakness he would be culled. That was simply the way it was.

As usual, the wanderer was interrupted from his thoughts. "Where did Dio go?" the bounty hunter inquired. Rufus had not yet seen the wanderer's eyes, as Zero's head was currently bent and his fringe obscured the majority of his face.

"…He left."

"Oh, well that was rude of him. Not like I expected anything else from that guy, though."

"What do you mean?"

The bounty hunter settled himself beside Zero. "Well, he's a spoiled brat. He doesn't think about anyone but himself, really."

"I never acquired that impression."

"Really?" Rufus sounded surprised. "I'd never have thought you'd be the sympathetic type."

Sympathetic? When one normally described the wanderer, "sympathetic" was certainly not a word they typically used. Even Zero himself have never considered himself to be sympathetic. "I believe I am not sympathizing with him, I merely see him differently than most. There are times when I even admire his confidence, power, and free nature. He has also managed to head a powerful demon clan from such a young age—and admirable feat that I know I could never attain."

"I guess when you put it like that he doesn't sound so bad… You two seem pretty close."

"We are simply friends."

"I never would have got that impression after seeing what he did to your shoulder earlier."

Zero shrugged slightly and traced a gloved finger over the runes surrounding Grandark's eye. "It was not a problem. He is aware that I can recover easily from such a minor wound."

"You know, I'm half demon **and** half human, but I don't think I quite understand either race."

"Then we have more in common than I initially thought," the wanderer commented.

Rufus was silent for a moment. "So what you said earlier…about being 'mostly' a demon…that's true?"

"Yes, I am an artificial being," the wanderer explained. "My master created me from several races, using the most desirable traits from each race. I am mostly a demon; however I also have quite a bit of elven in me…among other things."

"That explains the ears."

"Yes, elves are renowned for their hearing."

Both demons were silent for the next few minutes. Instead of the awkward silences that the wanderer was used to, this silence was almost…pleasant. Zero raised his head slowly and looked up at the sky. When he noticed that the sun was already beginning to descend on the horizon, the wanderer quickly stood and stated, "We should locate Ley and continue on. We have spent far too much time here."

"Oh, I guess." Rufus stood as well, in the process managing to catch a glimpse of the wanderer's exposed eyes. "HOLY SHIT WHERE DID YOUR MASK GO?"

"Dio is in possession of my mask…"

"No wonder he's not here," the bounty hunter mumbled, attempting (and failing) to avoid staring at Zero's eyes.

The silver-haired demon recalled that he had not actually seen his own eyes in many years and realized that, with ice surrounding him on all sides, he was in the perfect location to take a look. Zero moved towards the nearest icy pillar and briefly examined his own reflection.

His eyes were just as "soulless" and blank as Grandark had described. In all honesty, though, Zero was sort of pleased. He preferred others not knowing what he was thinking. The wanderer knew that his eyes were different from the norm, but even so he still did not understand why others were so unnerved by the sight of his eyes.

Without a word Zero continued on to where he had last seen Ley. He was vaguely aware that the bounty hunter was following behind him. He found the summoner fully dressed—which he was quite grateful for—and walking towards him. She and Jeeves reacted to the wanderer's eyes similarly to Rufus.

…That was not entirely true. When Ley had first seen the wanderer she had been firmly convinced that he was "possessed."

"Where are Lord Dio and his butlers?" Jeeves inquired politely.

"…I do not know."

The summoner smiled. "Good riddance, then! Now let us be off before I freeze to death."

It was a relatively short walk to the Altar of Judgment. Zero noticed that his companions had begun to shiver as the demons approached the dungeon. The wanderer was not particularly bothered by the cold; he was fairly accustomed to it by now.

When they finally entered the altar, Zero was surprised to see the corpses of Ice Wyrm Spawns and Icefangs littering the area. Many of the monsters' bodies were covered in familiar claw marks.

"At least he channeled his anger into something productive," Grandark remarked. From its tone the wanderer could tell the sword was still upset concerning the incident with the ice pillar.

"You mean Dio did all this?"

"He is very destructive when upset."

"I can see that."

They continued through the dungeon, treading through the empty areas in silence. When they finally reached the scale-like boss room, Yamini was already present, and Dio was standing on a nearby platform, conversing with his butlers. Upon the approach of the other demons, the stygian quickly silenced himself.

Even though he had silenced himself and the magenta-haired demon was quite a distance away, Zero had still heard the last words of the other demon's conversation—it had sounded suspiciously like, "Maybe I should have just left him alone."

"It's about time you all showed up," the stygian complained aloud. He teleported next to Ley—the wanderer found it strange, as normally Dio would appear near Zero—and stated, "Since I got rid of all the enemies for you, do me a favor and hurry up here. I'm freezing my ass off."

"Then wear an actual shirt, you idiot," Ley countered.

"You shut up. I'll have you know that straight men have turned gay after seeing me."

"Well I was tempted to turn lesbian after sleeping with you."

Zero ignored the two and turned to Yamini. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the god did not flinch despite the fact that the wanderer's eyes were not concealed—then he remembered that Yamini was blindfolded. "Greetings Lady Yamini."

"…I recall that voice," the goddess of judgment stated. "Zephyrum…is it not you?"

"Yes, it is me. How are you, Goddess of Judgment?"

"I am fine; my sacred judgment continues, interrupted only by the worthless enemies that never venture past Aron. The influence of the Ascendant God still lingers, but it is a mere shadow of its former power."

The wanderer turned behind him and noticed that the summoner and stygian were still squabbling with each other. Rufus and the butlers were attempting to keep the two noble demons apart from each other.

Zero walked up to the others and politely requested, "Please continue on to the Temple of Destruction without me. I will catch up to you as soon as I can."

All of them looked at the wanderer with a confused expression. It was only understandable, considering that the silver-haired demon had always been the most dedicated of the demons concerning missions.

Dio was the first to begin walking away. "He's got his reasons; let's just go." The others followed the stygian without looking back.

Only after he was positive that the others had left, Zero turned back to the goddess. "Lady Yamini…can you do me a favor?"

"…You did me a few favors back when you resided in this region," the goddess mused. "It depends on what you are asking of me."

"I am quite confused; my mind and emotions are very conflicting at this moment. Could you judge my core?"

Yamini was silent for a moment. "Humans have come to me before requesting that I judge their souls…not once has a demon come to me with such a request. I refuse to weigh your core, as I do not know exactly what would occur. My apologies."

"…It is alright. I was not expecting such a simple solution to such a complicated issue." The wanderer sighed, gave the goddess a small bow, and thanked Yamini for her time. This time he could not run from his issues; he would be forced to face them. He desperately hoped that perhaps Dio would agree to help him, even after what the wanderer had done.

Zero began to walk after his comrades, not particularly wanting to have to face Dio again.

"You shouldn't involve yourself with Dio," Grandark stated suddenly. "You can't trust someone who can't trust you."

"…What do you mean?"

"Well now, you've forgiven that infernal stygian time and time again for how he's mistreated you, but the one time you stand up to him he refuses to help you altogether," the blade pointed out. "And if your own master couldn't even trust you, what makes you think this spoiled child will?"

"Perhaps you are correct."

"Of course I am."

* * *

Author's Notes:

-Woot. Sorry for the short chapter, guys, but this is more the "calm-after-the-storm" kinda stuff, and in order to get this chapter out as fast as I did it had to be a bit shorter.

-Ahhhh, Dio and his anger management issues. xD Well Dio fans, I think I've ruined your favorite character enough for one story, so you'll be seeing a little less of him as soon as he and Zero settle things.

-lol Rufus has a bit of dialogue in here, doesn't he? xD

-This chapter (as well as the previous chapter) will probably make a lot more sense to you if you've read my threeshot. Especially the Ley/Dio one night stand thing. xD

-Dude I made all that up about Yamini. I just assumed that she weighed something with those scales she's always carrying, so I just said Yamini was weighing souls or something. I dunno why that scene is even there to begin with. lol

-Well, it'll probably be awhile until I post again. There will be two more chapters after this: Temple of Destruction and Forest of Life.

-Thanks to my readers and reviewers. Special thanks to Solica, who's been a faithful reviewer to this story since the beginning.


	5. Chapter 5: Temple of Destruction

When Zero eventually reached the entrance to the Temple of Destruction, the stars were beginning to appear in the sky. He immediately sensed that there was something amiss. The other demons were nowhere to be seen, yet the scent of blood had assaulted the wanderer's nose the second he had entered Lord Perseo's territory. Beyond the stretch of Miston and Hideous Borer corpses, Zero could hear gunshots and various other battle noises. "…Gran…what is the situation?"

"It seems as though the God of Destruction went a bit insane…"

As the wanderer began to sprint through the dungeon, he started to imagine the worst and blame himself for everything that had occurred. He had known that, after what had happed to Lady Gaia, it was only natural that Lord Perseo would likely be the most upset of the gods. Zero reprimanded himself for remaining behind for his own selfish purposes—if he had simply kept with the others perhaps he could have prevented the whole situation.

The wanderer's fears were confirmed when he arrived in the boss chamber. Lord Perseo was currently in a raging, hell-bent state, and Zero was fairly certain that the god was beyond the point of reasoning.

Although there were three demons currently opposing the god (six if you included the butlers), the fight was already skewed in Perseo's favor. The demons were currently in the god's home environment, they were opposing a god that was nearly at full strength, and the demons had been a bit weary after traveling all day with only a few relatively short respites.

Already Zero could tell that his assistance would only be delaying the inevitable. All of the other demons were currently injured in some form, and their attacks were causing only a fraction of their usual damage due to Lord Perseo's heavy armor. The wanderer felt adrenaline begin to surge through him as panic began to set in. He could think of only one solution, and it would mean having to stall for time.

The wanderer quickly ran up to Dio, who was currently keeping his distance from the god and using "Haunting Shock." Upon Zero's approach, the stygian smiled weakly and stated, "It's about time." The silver-haired demon could tell that his friend was attempting to maintain his composure, but below the outer façade was likely in a similar state of desperation.

"Dio, you need to leave," Zero stated firmly.

"What? That's stupid. No matter where one goes, they can't escape the wrath of a god. Even I know that. And I'm not going to leave anyone behind."

Suddenly the God of Destruction generated glowing purple-and-black orbs that aimed directly for Dio. Zero quickly moved between the stygian and the projectiles, removing Grandark from his back and assuming a defensive stance. Zero was pushed back as the orbs made contact with the blade and promptly dissipated.

"You misconstrue," the wanderer stated, remaining in his defensive stance. "First, though, who has sustained the worst injuries?"

"Ley, for sure. When the fighting started, Perseo caught us off-guard and Rufus and I were stunned for a little while by an attack. Ley managed to hold him off all by herself until we could join her. Don't ever tell her I said this, but I'm actually a little impressed. Unfortunately for her that didn't end well—she's got internal hemorrhaging as well as several rock shards in her arm. I doubt she'll be able to fight much longer," Dio explained.

"Then take her with you. Go to the Forest of Life…and ask for Lady Gaia's aid. Bring her here. It is our only hope at this point. Rufus and I can keep Lord Perseo at bay."

Dio's features hardened; the fake smile on his lips disappeared. "You two can't take him alone. And in my weakened state I don't know how quickly I could teleport to the next dungeon."

"The Grandark can counteract the power of a god," Zero reminded the stygian. "Also, if we were all to leave then Lord Perseo would simply pursue us. As long as opponents still remain in his territory, he will not leave."

The magenta-haired demon was silent. He appeared quite uncertain about leaving. In Dio's moment of hesitation, Perseo surged towards the stygian and wanderer with claws bared. Zero locked his blade with the god's claws and pushed back against the onrush.

"Just go, Dio! You have to **trust** me!"

Moments after the words left his lips Zero realized that, for the first time he could recall, he had raised his voice. After hearing nothing from the stygian for several moments, the wanderer assumed the other demon had left. He returned focus to the god currently pushing him back and stepped to the side.

Perseo stumbled as the demon he had been pushing against suddenly was not there anymore. The god quickly retaliated with a series of quick melee combos. For the most part Zero managed to avoid the claws that swiped at his body, but at one point his defense slipped and Perseo wasted no time in tearing the flesh of the wanderer's recently-healed chest. After recovering he looked back behind the god and was shocked to see that Dio was still standing there, motionless as if paralyzed.

"You idiot! Zero told you to leave!" the blade shouted in a stentorian voice that the wanderer would never be able to muster.

The sword's biting tone seemed to snap Dio from his daze. The stygian nodded, disappeared, reappeared next to Ley several platforms over, held the summoner's arm, and disappeared again.

Zero then looked for Rufus. He spotted the bounty hunter on the other side of the area, defending himself against a group of four or so Mistons that had surrounded the demon. The wanderer began to head in Rufus' direction, but was quickly militated by an enormous pillar of rock that emerged from the ground. He quickly attempted to run around the stone pillar; however more similar slabs of rock suddenly rose from the ground. In seconds the silver-haired demon was penned in by the large monoliths.

"I'm guessing he's trying to keep you from interfering while he tries to kill Rufus," the sword deduced.

The wanderer quickly swung his blade, only to be rewarded with a loud clanging noise and jarring pain in his arm.

"I'm not freaking Excalibur, boy! I cannot cut through this type of rock!" the sword reprimanded him.

"…You can cut through other types of rock."

"Yes, but this is the Temple of Destruction. It has very unique qualities," the blade elucidated. "Now be quiet and use a powerful technique. If I am infused with enough energy I will be able to slice through this with no problems."

Zero quickly used "Gran X" on the nearest rock slab, slicing it in two. After finishing the attack the wanderer realized that it had taken more out of him than he had thought, and he was forced to take a brief moment of quiescence. The wanderer quickly exited the now-broken circle of stone and looked over at Rufus.

The bounty hunter had managed to eradicate the Mistons, but was currently confronted by the God of Destruction himself. Rufus would fire several accurate shots at the god, only to have around half of them ricochet off innocuously. His skills were more effective, but Zero could see (even from a distance) that it was steadily draining away at the bounty hunter's mana.

The wanderer replaced Grandark on his back and quickly ran to the other demon's side. Rufus flinched noticeably when the two made eye contact; he attempted to conceal it by nonchalantly asking, "Oh hi Zero. When did you get here?"

"You're awfully blithe for one in such a state," the sword remarked dryly.

Similar to Dio and Ley, the bounty hunter was in rather poor condition. His body was covered in several black, burn-like marks and lacerations. Rufus also had sustained a rather painful-looking wound to the mid left thigh. "Hm. Well, I was taught never to be afraid. A bounty hunter's got to be able to stare death in the eye, you know. I mean, I'm constantly chasing after dangerous people who could kill me all the time."

"How did this all begin, Rufus?" the wanderer inquired, deflecting another of Perseo's projectile attacks.

"Well, we showed up and he instantly started shouting some shit about why the spawn of hell dared to return to the land of the gods," the bounty hunter explained, using his "Make it Rain" skill. "Then he started going crazy and attacking us out of nowhere. We were caught completely off-guard."

"…I see."

Rufus paused and forced himself to look the wanderer in the eyes for a moment. "Trust me, there's nothing you could have done. This guy's obviously been a ticking time bomb ever since the incident with that demon and the Ascendant God. We just happened to be the unlucky demons that set him off."

"Thank you for telling me this, Rufus."

"No problem."

As time went on, it became more and more difficult for the two demons to hold their ground. Lord Perseo began to send out more and more glowing blue orbs at the pair—the blue orbs moved incredibly quickly, and when they made contact with the demons the orbs sapped a bit more of their diminishing strength. The orbs then transferred the leeched mana to Perseo.

While a demon's stamina was rather astounding, it still could not match that of a god. The two were forced to constantly use skills in order to keep themselves from sustaining major injury. Rufus had all but completely depleted his mana in a matter of minutes; the wanderer only possessed a bit more due to the fact that he had arrived later to the battle and Zero was a bit better equipped to deal with gods.

Eventually the two were fighting more with exhaustion than Lord Perseo. Zero had resorted to holding Grandark in defensive stance and simply shielding himself (as well as Rufus) from the brunt of the attacks. His arms were beginning to become quite tired from holding the heavy blade up for such an extensive time.

"Just hold on a little longer," the bounty hunter advised. "They've been gone for a while…they have to be back any second now."

By that point Zero did not have enough strength to form an audible reply. He was focusing solely on keeping his grip on the sword. Just as the wanderer felt the blade drop from his weary hands, he spied a magenta blur out of the corner of his eye. Zero then collapsed on the barren ground below him, too weary to even properly register the consequent pain.

* * *

"Man, he's been out of it for a while."

"Of course, you imbecile! You took your sweet time getting back here."

Zero could not tell who was speaking; the voices were familiar but he could not place them.

"I came as fast as I could! And I even bandaged him up, too."

"Yes, quite shoddily. I think you caused more injury to him then you helped heal."

"No way! I know how to control this rake hand."

Oh…it was merely Grandark and Dio. The wanderer quickly opened his eyes and realized that it was around two in the morning. He must have been comatose for at least a few hours.

"Oh good, you're up," the stygian stated.

"It's about time."

The wanderer slowly brought himself up to a sitting position and quickly examined his wounds. Grandark had been correct—Dio was not very adept at tending to wounds. He also noticed that he had not been moved from where he had fallen in battle. "What occurred after I fell?" he inquired tentatively.

"Oh, it went fine, actually. At first I wasn't sure why you asked me to get Gaia, but the second Perseo saw her he just started…crying. Or at least I think that's what he was doing. It was weird," Dio replied. "Then they just started talking and talking and Perseo apologized to all of us repeatedly…"

"I am glad. I thought that perhaps what happened to Gaia was the source of Perseo's rage. When I used to reside here…they were always quite close."

"Sure seems like it."

Zero pulled his blade (which was on the ground where he had dropped it) into his lap and absentmindedly began to clean it. "…Dio? Why did you hesitate when I told you to leave?" he asked. The question had been troubling him from the back of his mind for a while. "Was it due to the fact that I had raised my voice?"

"That certainly did surprise me, but that wasn't it. In that same moment…your eyes changed. I swear I saw it, just for a second."

"…Oh."

"The main thing was that I didn't see anger there," the stygian muttered, staring down at the ground. "I would've been fine with anger. It's just…you seemed…upset. Almost betrayed, really. That confused the shit out of me."

The wanderer was silent for a moment. He recalled that he had told the other demon to "trust" him. Was that was he was upset about? Zero then realized that, in that moment, had he thought that the stygian had hesitated because Dio did not trust the wanderer's judgment.

Suddenly another thought crossed his mind. Why was he only now discovering the true meaning of **his own** words and actions? Zero had never quite understood others that well, but he had always believed he knew himself. It was then that the wanderer became conscious of the fact that he did not know himself at all, and that that was one of the main reasons he had never understood anyone else. He knew his purpose…but who **was** he, anyway? An artificial weapon? Was that all there was to him?

"Zero? I know you're probably a little out of it after all this, but I just wanted to confirm something."

The wanderer pulled himself from his introspection and focused on the demon beside him. "Yes?"

"I told you to never speak to me again unless you would assist me in helping you. You spoke to me back there; I don't care what the circumstances were. This means you'll start dealing with your problems, right?"

"…At this point…there is no other way."

* * *

Author's Notes:

-Yay only one chapter left. Sorry about the length and rushed quality of this one, but I don't know when I'll be able to publish anything again, so I wanted to get this one out as as soon as I could. There's also probably a lot of errors in here from trying to write too many words in a short amount of time.

-Perseo and Gaia's relationship is hinted to in the game several times. In this, Perseo was upset because of what happened to Gaia, and he kind of just went a little crazy. lol.

-I know that a lot of that fight-ish scene is bad, but I've never been good at that sort of thing and I can't be completely accurate because (as I have mentioned previously) I do not have these characters in the actual game. Please just try to go along with the stuff I made up.

-In the original game, they made the gods seem really weak. I never understood that. I mean, they're gods, right? Shouldn't they be uber powerful? Well, I guess they were possessed or something in the game, but anyway, just keep in mind that this in version of the gods, the gods are extremely powerful. Perseo also had kind of an advantage-I think Zero mentions that somewhere.

-Ok, the whole rock circle thing was just a lame excuse to make a really bad inside joke. You see, personally I think that Caliburn (from Sonic and the Black Knight) is the best sentient sword ever (sorry Gran, but you don't have a cool accent and you don't turn into Ex-freaking-calibur). In the final boss of the game Caliburn's from, Caliburn breaks, then turns into Excalibur, and when he cuts through the boss he says, "There's nothing Excalibur can't cut through" or something to that effect. I hope that kind of cleared things up. xD I dunno how Gran even knows what Excalibur is.

-OMG Zero raised his voice. xD lol, don't get used to it; it probably won't be happening again anytime soon.

-Oh hai random identity crisis. xD Well, don't worry, Zero'll sort this out by the end of this story.

-Yeah I don't know where those Rufus lines came from. Hooray for making stuff up.

-OMG LEY WAS ACTUALLY USEFUL. Again, don't get used to that. xD

-Considering these last chapters were short, the final one will probably be longer and take a while to write. Especially since I have a lot to conclude now. Thanks for bringing up your damn identity crisis in the second-to-last-freaking-chapter, Zero. =.=

-Thanks to the readers, especially Solica.


	6. Chapter 6: Forest of Life sort of

"What do you mean?"

The wanderer was quiet for a while before instinctively muttering, "…No, it is nothing."

Dio's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I thought we talked about this. If there's something wrong, you'd better tell me. I'm not above torturing the injured."

"I am quite aware," Zero replied coolly. "It is simply…that I am beginning to question myself; my identity."

"You seem pretty calm for someone who's currently having a little identity crisis."

"Yes, I am aware, and it disturbs me greatly. It is as if I am thinking of not myself, but of one whose life's story I have read in a book; as if I am reading of a being that I share no connection with and will likely never meet in my lifetime." Zero paused and glanced down at the blade in his lap. "I am beginning to question if I ever was my own person to begin with. Ever since I was created, I have been told how I should behave, how to think, and what to do. My master, Gran…even you have done so…"

There was a long silence that followed. Eventually the stygian slid his arm around Zero's shoulders and pulled the other demon uncomfortably close. "Listen, Zero, I don't know anything about this sort of thing. Despite what I had to go through, I still grew up as a demon of noble birth and was basically allowed to do whatever the hell I wanted. I developed into my own person easily. If you wanted advice about what goes on in the bedroom, I could definitely be of more help."

"…I understand." The wanderer attempted to pull away, but the other demon's grip was firm and unyielding.

"No, I'm not done talking. You see, the only person I figure that can help you out with this is your master. He created you; he'd probably know what you were like before you had to start all this training to kill Void. After we get back to the headquarters and I kick Knight Master's ass for sending us on this mission, I'll go with you and we can go get some answers from this 'Master Oz' of yours. Well, that and get your mask fixed."

"That is a generous offer; however I do not understand why you would do this."

Dio laughed. "Because I've been dying to go back home, and I'm curious as to this guy you call 'Master'. Also, I owe you for not killing me after I tore your mask like that."

"I do not believe you and my master will be very compatible."

"I couldn't give less of a damn about that."

Zero stared down at the sword in his lap. He had noticed that Grandark had been watching the scene carefully, but had not once spoken. The wanderer looked back at Dio and stated, "Then thank you. Until then, I would prefer not to speak of this further. There are much more important issues to attend to."

"Hah! That's totally like you. To be honest, I'm pretty sure that this sort of behavior is just who you are. There's no way someone could act like that 24/7 just because someone told them to."

"Perhaps."

"Well, as a matter of fact there is actually something you have to do. Perseo said he wanted to see you. Not sure why, really, but he's a god so you'd better just do it."

The wanderer nodded and slowly stood. His body seemed to have recovered quite well considering the circumstances. Grandark continued to be silent as it was replaced on Zero's back. "First, though, where are the others?"

"Oh, they're both unconscious. Teleporting like that took too much out of Ley, and Rufus only held exhaustion at bay for about two more seconds than you did. Ley's a few feet behind you; Rufus is directly behind you. They both collapsed in those spots, and in in their current states it wouldn't be safe to move them," Dio explained.

Zero quickly checked behind him to see that the stygian's words were true. "Where are the butlers? Should they not be here tending to the injuries?"

"They were hurt pretty badly, too. I sent mine out to hunt so they could recover faster. Jeeves stayed with Ley for a long time before I finally managed to persuade him to leave her side and go hunting as well. They should be back any minute, and I've been doing the best I can to help things along while they're gone. Now just get going; Perseo said he'd be in the second room of this dungeon. I can handle things here."

"Thank you, Dio."

"Don't thank me with words; thank me with your body."

"…Pardon me?" the wanderer inquired, quite disturbed.

The stygian smirked and laughed casually. "I'm just kidding! Someone's got to lighten the situation around here, and it certainly wasn't going to be you. Besides, you're practically like a brother to me."

Zero elicited a small, exasperated sigh; turned away from the magenta-haired demon, and left the room, careful to not tread on the bodies of the two unconscious demons behind him. Moments after leaving the boss room, Grandark decided that it was ready to once again make its opinion known.

"…Why did you tell that git such information?" the sword inquired.

"I trust him."

"What about me?"

"What about you, Gran?"

The sword scoffed impatiently and asked, "Don't you trust **me**? Isn't this the sort of thing you'd tell me instead of some idiot that you've known for less than a year?"

"You have never taken an interest in my personal affairs before," Zero stated.

"Of course I have! I have been the one looking after you for all these years!" the sword exclaimed. "Just moments ago, I was the one who watched over you and made sure Dio didn't attempt to take advantage of you in your unconscious state!"

The wanderer merely sighed and stated, "You disparage him. He would never do such a thing."

"Tch. You don't know that. You can only trust me, Zero. I would never do anything like that."

"You do not have a body, Gran."

"That's beside the point!" the blade nearly screamed.

"Then what is the point?"

"The point is that you don't need anyone but **me**! We were fine when it was just the two of us! It wasn't until these idiots came along that you started having these problems!"

"…I will keep that in mind. I apologize for what I have done, Gran."

"Good."

To be completely honest, though, Zero was becoming a bit tired of the sword controlling his life. He could not recall a time where the sword was not within five feet of him, yelling at the wanderer to be cleaned or complaining that it was too cold. He briefly wondered what his life would be like without the Grandark, but could not imagine a scenario in which he was present but the sword was not. He and the blade were nearly inseparable now.

On the other hand, in some respects Grandark knew him better than anyone. The sword had nearly raised Zero, after all. Also the wanderer could not help but be reminded that the sword was sentient, meaning it could feel just as well as speak and see. Being a weapon, that meant that Grandark was constantly being "hurt" every time Zero fought. Yet when the wanderer was holding the sword up against Perseo and Grandark was suffering the onslaught of the god's attacks, the blade had not said a word. Was it perhaps that the sword was too weakened to speak? Or maybe…maybe it was remaining strong for Zero's benefit…? As with everything the wanderer came into contact with, the issue of Grandark was not black and white.

Moments later the demon entered the room the God of Destruction currently occupied. At that moment, though, Perseo did not seem like a god, despite his intimidating appearance. Perseo was currently seated on a platform with his head in his hands; when Zero approached he looked up at the demon with a sad sort of expression on his features.

"It's a sad day when a god can't even keep his own anger under control," Grandark commented dryly, speaking loud enough that Perseo could hear.

"I know," the god replied. "I am also aware that words mean almost nothing to your kind, Zero; nevertheless please accept my apology. It is simply that…when I saw your companions, I instantly thought of how close I had been to losing Gaia forever. That thought was simply too much to bear, and…I lost myself to the destruction that I control. I am thoroughly ashamed of myself. If it was not for Gaia, I might have…" Perseo trailed off, leaving the sentence's end up to the wanderer's imagination.

"I apologize, but I cannot truly forgive you, as the lives of my comrades as well as my own life were nearly extinguished," the wanderer stated.

Perseo sighed and quickly averted the demon's gaze. "To be honest I had not expected any other response. It is entirely my fault for keeping my emotions locked deep within me. After conversing with Gaia I feel relived; I doubt I will ever become enraged like that anytime in the near future."

"I see."

"I wish that I could say more, but my words have escaped me. Thank you for understanding. Zero, is there anything I can do in compensation?"

Zero paused for a moment to think. He quickly realized that there was nothing he needed that the god could supply. "Lord Perseo, there is nothing I desire from you."

"As you wish. To be perfectly honest, I expected that sort of response as well. It was worth a try, though."

The wanderer gave the god a small bow and turned to leave the room. Before he could begin walking, though, Perseo stopped him.

"Zero, wait. I apologize for being intrusive, but…what is the situation with your mask?"

"It is damaged," the demon replied brusquely.

The God of Destruction paused for a moment before stating in a low voice, "…Even as a god, I find your eyes disconcerting. "

The demon simply remained silent and continued back to the room the other demons were currently occupying. He ruminated over the god's words, and at around halfway to his destination he realized something. "Gran? Do you not think that Lord Perseo's situation is…similar to mine?"

"How so?"

"He suppressed his emotions, similar as to how I do so currently. Do you think that perhaps…perhaps one day I will suddenly snap as he did? Will I almost kill someone as he did?"

"I wouldn't let you," the blade stated matter-of-factly. "If you really did snap, I would simply take over your mind and make you stop."

Zero was not sure whether to be somewhat pleased that the sword would do anything at all or incredibly disturbed that Grandark could do such a thing. "Oh," was all he could manage to say. When the wanderer returned to the boss room, Ley and Rufus were still unconscious. Dio was currently at the bounty hunter's side and appeared to be changing the bandage around the wound on Rufus' thigh.

Unfortunately for the magenta-haired demon, the bounty hunter chose that moment to wake and sit up quickly. The stygian quickly found a pistol pressed firmly to his forehead. "Knock that off," Dio stated in irritation, unconcernedly batting the weapon away. "I'm only trying to help."

"You? Trying to help? Yeah right. I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to take advantage of an unconscious person!"

"Why does everyone think I'm going to rape them?" Dio cried indignantly.

Grandark chuckled softly and muttered, "The bounty hunter's a smart one. You should have befriended **him**."

"Shush Gran, you are being rude."

"Fine, fine."

Zero approached the stygian and bounty hunter. He absentmindedly noted that when they first made eye contact with him the two demons cringed. "Dio, allow me." When the magenta-haired demon moved aside, the wanderer looked to Rufus and politely inquired, "Would you be alright if I assisted you?"

The bounty hunter seemed a bit surprised that Zero would simply ask respectfully. "…Well, I guess. Just be careful."

The wanderer nodded and promptly went to work changing the bandages. While he was doing so, the stygian explained to Rufus what had occurred while the bounty hunter was comatose. When Zero was finished the bounty hunter slowly stood and gently put a bit of weight on his injured leg.

"It's not that bad, actually," he professed, "and at least you knew what you were doing, Zero."

"Well excuse me, princess," the stygian muttered dryly.

Zero watched the two bicker for a while, simply content that he could enjoy the moment. After a few minutes the butlers returned. Jeeves instantly rushed to his mistress' side and patiently waited for her to awaken.

Eventually the summoner was roused from her comatose state, and after being informed of the situation was ready to move on with the others.

The journey to the Forest of Life was relatively uneventful. When they entered the forest itself, though, it began to drizzle. Ley complained for a few moments about the state of her hair; however everyone ignored her and kept moving. It soon began to rain, and finally it began to pour. By then everyone but Zero and the butlers was complaining about being soaked to their underwear—or in the stygian's case, simply soaked. Apparently Dio did not wear undergarments.

The wanderer did not mind the rain. He found the sound particularly pleasant. Zero was quite used to being caught in the rain, as well.

"Is anyone else under the distinct impression…that we're being watched?" Rufus asked out of seemingly nowhere.

"Oh, we are," Grandark replied nonchalantly. "It's just Furious Storm and Dark Storm, though."

"Who?" the bounty hunter inquired

Zero nodded. "They are two protectors of this forest. As long as we do not behave belligerently there should be no problems."

"Oh, alright."

The group continued on, remaining silent to avoid any potential arguments that could lead to fighting. Eventually they reached the forest's center, where a familiar giant five-branched tree stood out amongst all the others.

"What the hell is that?" Rufus exclaimed, clearly disturbed by the strange-looking flora.

One of the tree's branches extended towards the bounty hunter and roared in his face.

"That is Rukkha, the Tree of Life."

Rufus clutched his eyeteeth and watched the tree warily through narrowed eyes. "You'd think the Tree of Life would be a bit friendlier…"

Another voice appeared from behind the tree. "Oh, you'll have to excuse him. After the whole corruption thing he's never really liked demons," Gaia stated. The goddess stepped out from behind the Tree of Life and greeted all of the demons warmly. She seemed to bear them no resentment or ill will, despite the fact that she had almost been permanently fused with a corrupted Rukkha in the past.

"I'm so sorry for how Perseo was behaving earlier. I had no idea that he was so upset about what happened to me…if I had known, I would have spoken to him earlier," Gaia apologized.

Dio shrugged and stated, "Well, everyone seems to be trying to kill us demons these days. To be honest, if I had seen Ley show up in my territory I would have gone berserk, too."

"Shut up, Burning Canyon! If I was less uncomfortable, I might actually have had a snappy comeback that would put you in your place!"

Gaia (similar to Zero) did not particularly enjoy conflict, and she tended to avoid it whenever possible. "I apologize for the rain, but isn't it lovely? The rain is so helpful to all the animals and plants…"

"Lady Gaia, I hate to interrupt, but we should be returning to our headquarters soon," the wanderer stated. "If you could please tell us your condition and return us to Bermesiah…?"

The Goddess of Life seemed to notice Zero for the first time. After seeing that his mask was not present, the goddess flinched slightly. "O-oh, Zero, I did not see you there. You are not wearing your mask…how interesting…" She gave the silver-haired demon a weak little smile and laughed nervously.

"Gaia, we would like to return before the sun rises," Ley stated impatiently.

"Oh, right! Terribly sorry; I'm just a bit frazzled after the incident with Perseo…" she muttered. "I am fine and the forest is recovering quite well. Rukkha especially is looking much better! I could not be happier with the progress we've been making here. As for transporting you back to Bermesiah, it's the least I could do after what happened here."

"Thank you."

"Do not thank me yet. I am not the best at transporting things across continents…"

"As long as we end up on the right continent, I don't really care," Dio stated.

Gaia nodded and beamed at the demons. "Thank you all for coming here! To be honest it's been a bit lonely. The elves do not visit me as frequently after the incident with Thanatos. Well…good bye! Say hello to Knight Master for me, too!"

In the next moment Zero felt the world around him shift while he remained where he stood. After realizing his location, the wanderer noted that Gaia had been quite modest. He (as well as the other demons) had appeared very close to the Grand Chase Headquarters—only about a mile away. However they would have to travel that distance in their currently sodden and uncomfortable clothes.

"So Rufus," Dio said, breaking the silence, "what did you think of Xenia?"

"It's an extremely messed up place."

Although the bounty hunter's word choice was not exactly superlative, Zero silently agreed.

* * *

Author's Notes:

-WAIT! Before you complain about a crappy ending, this isn't technically the end! I'm planning on a rated M oneshot that would be a sort of epilogue of this story. It would be follow Dio and Zero to the demon-dimension-place to get some answers and Zero's mask fixed and all that.

-Even so, yes, this is a bad ending, and yes I did totally rush the crap out of it. But my time to write is limited, so whenever I do get a chance I kinda rush it. Sorry guys, but I was never that good at endings anyway, and a lot of this was just falling action from the last chapter's climax.

-Huzzah! Dio has officially achieved the maximum levels of awkward sexual tension in this chapter! Haha, anyway, don't worry guys, he really was just telling a horrible joke. Please don't freak out like Solica did... -.- ;

-Yeeeaaahhh there's not much going on in Forest of Life. Well, I couldn't think of anything except to have it raining there, and that's mainly just for teh lulz.

-...I think Gran's jealous, bro. xD

-Other than being really awkward in this chapter, Dio's almost...nice. Weird.

-Lol Ley's being a jerk again.

-Well, thanks for reading, thanks to my one reviewer Solica, and thanks to everyone who supported me along the way. I will probably never write anything with this many chapters again. xD Even so, I have to admit I'm pretty happy how this turned out.

L-ater.


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